To Be Young
by Yellowtail555
Summary: A collection of unrelated one-shots and drabbles about the NextGen. Pairings will change from chapter to chapter and while most will be romance, not all will be.
1. Nicknames

The first of many drabbles and one-shots about the NextGen.

Pairing: RosexAl

Rose hated the nickname Rosie. She'd been hearing it for her entire life and it made her want to crawl into a hole and die. Maybe it was because the one person she wouldn't mind saying it never did. Al totally ignored the nickname, her hatred of it throwing him off. Maybe she should have pretended to like it just so she could hear it from him but if he ever did say it, she wanted it to be special. Instead, she was just Rose; like she was just his cousin... nothing more. Never anything more. She was Rose damn Weasley and what more did she expect. They were cousins, for crying out loud, he'd never cross that boundary. Especially not with the whole world watching them. Never... never...

Instead, Fred, Hugo, James, her dad... all the guys who wanted to annoy her used it. But never Al. Until he became something he could never turn away from. Until he started bullying first Astrid, her best friend, and then the other Houses and finally everyone, not even laying off Rose some days. And he'd call her Rosie, whisper it late at night when they sat next to each other in the common room, Rose trying to catch up in lessons she didn't understand and Al... Al was just staring at the fire, crackling in the fireplace and ignoring everyone around him until he'd glare at someone behind her, leaning forward to curse at them and they were so close that she could have kissed him if she was ever that brave, which she wasn't, how she was a Gryffindor was beyond her. Maybe she couldn't do the foolish bravery. Maybe she was stuck there for a lack of anywhere else to go. But whatever it was, she was there. With Al. But never _with_ him. Just next to him. As he smirked and called her the nickname. And she'd always thought she'd love it coming from him but now it sounded like an insult, like the worst thing she could do would be to be Rosie. And so she hated the name even more.

Please R&R and I hope you enjoyed


	2. You're Alone

_Pairings: Unrequited!RosexAl, AlxOC (Astrid. She is CG's OC who I'm borrowing for this. Thank you, CG!), LilyxScorpius_

_Title: You're Alone_

_Notes: This was for the 2012 Hogwarts Games- Cycling Road, which is NextGen. I hope you enjoy!_

You're alone. You're not what they expect of you. You're second best in a world where only first place is recognized.

To begin with, Al was with Astrid (_Still._ What did you expect, Rosie, he doesn't want you like that).

And to put insult to injury, Astrid had run into Rose early the next morning in the Gryffindor Common Room. Rosie's best friend was a Ravenclaw. (They can do as they wish, they are dating. You won't let yourself care)

To top it off, you were nearly certain you were failing History of Magic (Al told you that it didn't matter, no one cared about that class but you just couldn't understand the subject matter and besides, what did Al know? He was failing everything)

Oh and if that wasn't all bad enough, rumors were circling about Lily. And as her concerned cousin, you were worried. (_Oh shut up!_ You might not be able to stand the girl but the Potter family image was starting to falter and the Weasley one would go down next)

You needed a break from all this. You needed to relax. But how?

You try to forget Astrid and _him._ They're yours. Your cousin. Your best friend.

You're so entwined in both of their lives that you couldn't get out if you tried to. But that's exactly what you do.

You join Lily's life even though you hate her and she returns the favor. You watch her and Malfoy.

And the rumors are true, you know that now, they are together and happy- or as happy as a suicidal girl and a depressed boy can ever be. It makes you sick. How can they avoid what the public thinks. You and Al can't.

You don't remind yourself that there is no _You and Al_ and there never will be. You don't remind yourself that you're not together because he doesn't want to be.

You live your sick, twisted fantasy all by yourself and pretend it's all okay even when you're crying.

You're Rose Weasley. You're strong. You'll make it through, even on your own.


	3. Not Good Enough

_Character: Molly_

_Implied Pairings: Victorie/Teddy, Rose/Lorcan_

_Title: Not good enough_

_Notes: In canon with "New Year; Next Gen" except for Molly being Head Girl. Two of the Ocs are from there, too. Nadia is all LA's and the Hufflepuff is my character, Cassie. The rest are random._

Molly was the only Potter-Weasley of her generation to make Head Girl and she hated it. What was she doing being Head Girl? It's not like she mattered. And sometimes, when she was so mad she couldn't take it, she'd walk down the hall and point at anyone who was even a step out of line and take some points from their house.

_A blonde Ravenclaw was running through the halls, chasing after a siamese cat who was making a break for it, people scattering in all directions to avoid her. Molly shouted after her the deduction of five points for running. _

To begin with, because everyone began with Victorie; the oldest, Molly took those points for Lucy, the youngest and her sister. After all, it was Ravenclaw. Because Lucy was an absentminded girl, obsessed with muggles, and she still got more attention than Molly. Hugo and Fred spent half of summer over at their house because of her but Molly, Molly got no one.

_Lorcan Scamander was snogging a girl in the fourth floor corridor, and she tapped him on the shoulder, irritably. "Public Display of Affection! That goes against rule 54 section b. That would be five points from Slytherin." He looked like he wanted to flip her off but barely restrained. _

Up next was Lily, the perfect little rebel. She was depressed, there was really no kind way to put it. She flipped off anyone that she knew well that tried to help her. She was the perfect little bitch. But people knew her. People could never forgot someone that crazy, that insanely defiant. She would always be remembered.

_She turned next to the Gryffindor next to him, who had her eyes on her shoes so her red hair was falling in her face. Red hair... The Gryffindor looked up as Molly snapped out the punishment and Molly saw the familiar face of her cousin. It seemed only appropriate to take points away from the sister of the person she was doing it for._

Hugo. The normal one. It was well known news that the Potter-Weasleys were crazy (most of them had a reputation that damned them to it, but for the few that didn't, it simply wasn't fair) but Hugo... people saw him as the red haired boy who was nearly as quiet as Molly's sister and always in her company. He wasn't anything special but he was always remembered for his supposed 'normal nature'.

_A Gryffindor boy tripped another Gryffindor with his arms full of books and the second one jumped up and swung at the first boy. Molly swooped down on them, yanking the first boy up by his collar and shooting the second one a look. "Ten points from Gryffindor, each of you!" The first Gryffindor let out a string of swears._

Roxanne. Now there's a loud girl. Molly has been stuck next to her at so many family dinners that her ears ring just from the thought of her chattering. She doesn't seem to have any specific favorite topic but she's what people assume about the Weasleys of their generation. Loud, Quidditch loving, and maybe a little bit arrogant- but don't you dare say it to her face.

_The second Gryffindor tried to kick the first one and she rounded on him, her wand out and her voice soft, a threatening murmur. She sends them off with a Ravenclaw prefect to the infirmary and kicks at the ground, muttering curses to the next Potter-Weasley on her list._

Al. Now that's a boy with a reputation and certainly not one you'd expect of a war-hero's son, probably why the bastard has it. Bastard, that's a good way to describe him. Al picks fights every other day, he curses all through class, and he's dating one of the sweetest girls in school. Most of the school seems to have developed a 'what the fuck?' attitude about him because he simply makes no sense. But he's remembered all right. Feared, more like it.

_A third Gryffindor, this time a girl, seemed to not care that she was in the presence of the Head Girl who was _not_ in a good mood. She and Al seemed to be cussing each other out. Molly rounded on them and recognized the girl, she was Nadia Bell-Spinnet, one of Al's chasers. "No cursing." She snapped. "Five points deducted each."_

Rose. Oh, Merlin... she was nearly as bad as Al. Those two sitting next to each other were enough to give Molly a headache. She had to feel bad for the teachers, class with the fifth years had to be hell. Rose was an attention hog, she was nearly as loud as Roxy, she made scenes in class, and she was best friends with Al's girlfriend. (Merlin, how did the loud, obnoxious kids always hang out with the quiet kids?)

"_Five points?" Al gaped at her. "We didn't even say anything that bad."_

"_Oh, shut the fuck up, Albus!" Nadia snapped._

"_There are first years around, Al!" Molly gave him a look. "Unless you want ten points?"_

James. It was a school game by now to make fun of his newest fling. He was nothing if not uncommited. And to think he was younger than her... but he was known. He was nearly as crazy as Fred when it came to their silly little pranks and generally she'd find him in a deserted corridor and give him a detention just because he was there alone which meant he was up to something. He was known...

"_Get out of there!" Molly stood at the top of the stairs, yelling down at the Gryffindor boy who was tapping his wand on a statue that concealed a secret passage_. _"Five points from Gryffindor?"_

"_Molly?"_

"_Fred?"_

_How appropriate..._

Fred. He always seemed to get into the worst things, to be in the wrong place in the wrong time and he'd lost more than his fair share of points for it. But it also brought attention to him and that was something he seemed not to appreciate as much as he should have. He may have thought he was shadowed by his uncle but he wasn't, he was glowing in his own light that no one else could touch. Lucky...

_The Ravenclaw she gave detention for talking back to her was only there in honor of Louis who had graduated last year with honors and who was currently working at the Ministry of Magic in France._

Louis. He was quiet but really smart and passed with all Os, making a record of some sort. People said he would have been Head Boy but he'd got into a spot of trouble in fifth year and therefore wasn't a prefect, and they thought it would have been awkward to squeeze him in. He seemed to be even more popular for not making it, though, and getting caught smoking with some other Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs, and a Slytherin in fifth year just helped his reputation_._

_The next Ravenclaw (this one was for having a fact-checking quill for a homework assignment, they were none too thrilled when she recognized it instantly but hey, she'd spent a good portion of her childhood in Uncle George's store when he was suppose to be watching her) was for Dominique who was also out of country, in the States where she was researching some case for the Prophet._

Dominique. She was... well, she was that weird mix of shy and loud that doesn't quite make sense. She would spend hours just sitting on her broom and not talking to anyone but other times, at parties, she was the loudest one around and Molly had to admit that Dom was fun to be around and they'd hung out some before Dom graduated three years ago but she was still confusing. Molly didn't really get how she was well known, actually, but she was part veela and she was still talked about years after she'd left.

_The Ravenclaw that represented Victorie, her oldest cousin, got fifteen points taken away for chewing gum in the halls. Victorie was currently employed at the Department of Magical Games and Sports and seemed fairly happy. Besides that, she was the only one of her siblings still in England so more people talked about her, it seemed so the Ravenclaw got more points taken away than she probably should have._

Victorie. She was commonly thought to be the near perfect first born but Molly knew better, Vic was crazy at times, talking back to people and unable to be well behaved. Her time at Hogwarts also remained a mystery to most of the people who went there now. Sure, they'd caught the end of it (the last three years) but she'd been secretive then and by now gossip had moved from that to her marriage to Teddy Lupin and the public's hopes for future children. She was constantly brought up, it seemed, and not always in a nice light.

_The last detention was an honorary one, for Teddy Lupin who had been an unoffical member of the family for forever and now that he married Vic, it was just a more secure situation. This time it was a fourth year Hufflepuff who was wandering around with her shirt untucked and her tie swinging from around her waist instead of her neck. Molly got her for mis-wearing the school uniform and who knew that Hufflepuffs could protest so loudly (wasn't this girl the same one she'd got last month for illegal substances and partying after hours?)._

Teddy. He was everyone's favorite teacher, it seemed. He gave anyone who'd sneak him a cookie an O and he was always made Defense interesting. Another plus for him, was his marriage to Vic which just got him talked about more, as well as the fact that he taught the same subject as his father and so it wasn't just the famous gossip mill of Hogwarts that spread rumors about him.

Molly was forgotten in the blur of all of them, overshadowed even if she was the only one to make Head Girl. And she didn't even deserve it. She would graduate and get a job and be forgotten in the always moving stream of Potter-Weasleys and they all stand out except her. She swore she wouldn't let it affect her but it did and she couldn't get Louis's situation out of her head. How easy it was for him.


End file.
